Wales vs England: Billy Vunipola admits he must step up to fill void left by Maro Itoje and brother Mako

Vunipola is yet to rediscover his best form but as England head to Cardiff with their Grand Slam fate in their own hands, he is ready to take off the shackles

Billy Vunipola says he must step up and fill the void left by the absences of his brother and Maro Itoje if England are to maintain their unbeaten start to this year’s Guinness Six Nations.

Wales host England on Saturday as the two remaining unbeaten sides left in the championship, although Eddie Jones’s side will be making the trip without two of their most influential players in the ranks. Mako Vunipola, Billy’s older brother, will miss the rest of the championship with damaged ankle ligaments, while Itoje’s recovery from injuring his medial knee ligament has not been quick enough for him to feature in Cardiff this weekend.

England are also without injured wing Chris Ashton, with Jones set to make two changes as Ben Moon and Jack Nowell are expected to come into the side that the head coach will announce on Thursday morning, but Billy Vunipola believes those already in the side have to step up and cover for the absences.

The 26-year-old is still only five games into his latest comeback from a third broken arm suffered in 10 months, and up until now he has been keen to show caution in how he exposes himself to the risk of injury - particularly where his previous fractures have been. But with Itoje and his brother on the sidelines, he believes Saturday’s clash with Wales is the perfect time to take off the shackles.

“I don’t think I’m there yet, I’ve been building up a little bit of confidence, and for me it’s a good time to try and play some of my better rugby,” Vunipola said on Wednesday.

“I’ve been trying to build up to it but there’s more urgency this week because my brother is not here and Maro’s been out for two weeks, and that pressure I put on myself every week, but this week there’s more importance because it’s nice to see your name up there with the Mako’s of this world, and the Owen Farrell’s and the Jonny May’s, so I’d like to try and see if I can play my best game.”

Three times since the start of 2018 Vunipola has heard the agonising news that his forearm had broken - twice in his right arm and most-recently his left - and he spoke upon his latest comeback of his desire to build-up some miles on the clock before getting back to his best.

That has been apparent in England’s opening two matches of the Six Nations, although while he has not quite been the standout player wearing white, his England teammates have been a large reason for that in their eye-catching performances against Ireland and France.

But in Wales and the cauldron that is the Principality Stadium, Vunipola will need to be at his best to give England not only the chances they need to put away Warren Gatland’s in-form side, but also to implement the tactical gameplan that has served them so well this year. For that reason, the task ahead is crystal clear for the No 8.

“The way that he’s come back now, carrying the ball exceptionally well, hitting hard, very good off the base - he’s as good as anyone in the world off the base - good movement for a bloke who’s 130kgs-plus, I think he’s just going from strength to strength at the moment,” said England’s scrum coach Neil Hatley.

“A run of games is going to help anyone. He was very good physically against Ireland, he got us over the gainline, he was part of a very attritional defence in stopping them getting over the gainline, and I thought he carried that on against France. Some of those carries off restarts where he’s carrying the ball powerfully into a big pack of forwards and gaining five, six, seven, eight metres to get everybody on the front foot, that’s what we need him to do.”

Mark Wilson runs into Billy Vunipola during England training (Getty)

England spent Wednesday afternoon training against London Irish at their Bagshot headquarters, with the Champions leaders invited in to camp to assist their final preparations for facing Wales. The mood in the camp also appears to be a very settled one, with Ellis Genge and Ben Te’o brought into the retained squad for the injured Mako Vunipola and Ashton, while Harry Williams is back in the fold for Dan Cole. The likelihood is that Moon will be given the nod to start at loosehead with Genge set to bring his intensity and brute power late in the game, while Nowell should return on the wing. That leaves Jones facing the decision of who to leave out of the matchday squad, and such has been Mark Wilson’s form this season combined with Nathan Hughes’ ability to play across the back-row as well as at lock if needed, Brad Shields looks like failing in his quest to force his way back into the side.

The final selection dilemma will be whether to include Te’o or Cokanasiga on the replacements’ bench, though it’s the latter that looks to be winning that race after regaining full fitness from a knee injury that he suffered in December.

London Irish head coach Les Kiss speaks with England's Eddie Jones as the two sides train together (Getty)

"Joe's hitting hard and carrying hard, so he brings good physicality on the wing,” Hatley added. "Joe's come in off the back of that game against Newcastle (last weekend) and physically looks very good. He's worked hard.

"As we saw over the autumn he brings physicality. For a big man he moves exceptionally well. Defensively he's getting better as well."